In 630, just six years after the battle at Badr, Muhammad and some 10,000 soldiers triumphantly entered Mecca, almost completely without violence, and in a posture of reconciliation rather than revenge. In sharp contrast to traditional Arab practice, Muhammad issued a general amnesty for those who had opposed him. Then he turned his attention to the religious rationale of his entire movement. Riding his favorite camel, Muhammad circled the Kaaba seven times, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greater), thus declaring the triumph of the “believer’s movement.” Refusing to enter the Kaaba until it had been purified from its idolatry, Muhammad ordered its 360 idols and paintings removed. He then smashed each one, reciting the Quranic verse: “The truth has come and falsehood has vanished away.” Thus the Kaaba was cleansed and, in Muslim thinking, restored to its original purpose as a focal point for the worship of Allah alone.

Visual Source 9.4, an eleventh-century Persian miniature painting, portrays this dramatic event, showing Muhammad, enveloped in holy fire, seated on a white horse, while his followers look on. The intact idols ring the top and left sides of the image, while a few of the destroyed statues appear in the upper left.